Mirwaiz can’t travel to Delhi amid assassination threat

Srinagar, March 19, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has once again decided not to travel to New Delhi to appear before India’s National Investigation Agency for questioning in a fake case registered against him.

Mirwaiz’s lawyer wrote to the NIA that his client was facing an assassination threat and he should, therefore, be questioned in Srinagar. His lawyer, Advocate Aijaz Ahmed Dhar, had in his first letter also cited hostile atmosphere and security concerns as major reasons for his inability to travel to Delhi. In his fresh response, Mirwaiz’s counsel wrote, “It is unfortunate that his client has not received any express response to his earlier communication.”

“Instead a poor transmission of a notice which is not legible was delivered at his residence. My client also informed the local police station about the issue but they expressed their helplessness,” Dhar said. The Hurriyat forum Chairman was summoned for the second time by the NIA since March 10. He was asked to present himself before the agency’s office in Delhi on Monday. The Hurriyat forum also supported the reasons cited by the Mirwaiz’s lawyer and stated that he should be questioned in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has welcomed the US State Department’s fresh report. Taking to Twitter, the Mirwaiz wrote, “The US State Department HR report of widespread human rights violations in Kashmir and calling for removal of black law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is an acknowledgment of what people and leadership have been saying. Resolution of Kashmir dispute is the safeguard of human rights for all in Kashmir and peace in the region.”

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